Ron Hendren is a journalist and television personality. He is best known as one of the original hosts of Entertainment Tonight, joining the syndicated television show at its debut in 1981. Hendren had a brief career in politics, working for politicians that included Sargent Shriver, Stephen M. Young, and B. Everett Jordan. He transferred to a journalism career with a self-syndicated news column in 1972, which was subsequently picked up and distributed nationally as Ron Hendren In Washington by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. This led to a career as an on-air commentator and critic at the NBC owned and operated station WRC-TV in Washington D.C.. During his tenure at WRC, Hendren was a visiting lecturer in journalism at the University of Maryland at College Park.